Smart and sustainable 3D-printed electrochemical device for diclofenac remediation and monitoring in water.

In recent years, emerging contaminants in water, such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals, have gained significant attention, underscoring the need for innovative purification and monitoring solutions. Diclofenac, a widely used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, has become an important environmental contaminant due to its widespread use and the poor efficiency of conventional wastewater treatment systems. This study focuses on the development of an innovative all-in-one 3D printed device for small-scale monitoring and remediation of emerging contaminants such as diclofenac, with the potential to be adapted to others as well.

Sorption of cortisone on polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene microplastics.

The ability of microplastics (MPs) to retain organic and inorganic pollutants on their surface is widely demonstrated, acting as vectors for these hazardous species, preconcentrating and carrying them long distances, particularly in the aquatic environments. For this reason, MPs sorption studies are crucial to understand the mechanisms involved in contaminant retention. In this research, the sorption behaviour of cortisone on polypropylene, polystyrene and high-density polyethylene MPs in Milli-Q water and artificial seawater was studied.

Determination of 16 emerging organic pollutants in sea sand using a modified QuEChERS method combined with UHPLC-MS/MS.

Emerging organic pollutants (EOPs), including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, and industrial chemicals, are gaining attention due to their increasing presence in the environment and limited understanding of their impacts. This study developed and validated a method to determine 16 EOPs in marine sand, covering 4 pharmaceuticals, 8 hormones, 2 phenols, a UV filter, and a habit consumption compound. The method combines a modified QuEChERS method with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS).

Hypercrosslinked β-cyclodextrin polymer for the dispersive solid-phase extraction of organic pollutants from sea water and wastewater.

This work explores the application of a hypercrosslinked β-cyclodextrin based polymer (called as "nanosponge", NS), as sorbent for the dispersive solid-phase extraction of a group of 48 organic pollutants from sea and wastewater. Extraction parameters such as type and volume of extraction solvent, amount of NS, adsorption and desorption time were optimized and applied to the extraction of thirteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, fourteen polychlorinated biphenyls, eleven organochlorine pesticides, two organophosphorus esters, seven UV filters and one antibacterial agent from both types of water. The extracts were analysed by gas chromatography coupled with a single quadrupole mass spectrometer allowing the determination of the 48 analytes in a 32 min chromatographic run.

A Phase II, Multicentric, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Proof of Concept Study of Efficacy and Safety of Rifamycin SV-MMX 600 mg Tablets Administered Three or Two Times Daily to Patients With Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Introduction: Treatment with nonresorbable antibiotics is effective in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D). Multimatrix (MMX) formulations ensure targeted drug delivery to the mid-distal small bowel and colon-traditionally considered the origin of IBS symptoms. To assess the efficacy of rifamycin SV-MMX for the treatment of IBS-D.

Hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent-ferrofluid microextraction followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for the enantioselective determination of chiral agrochemicals in natural waters.

The increasing use of chiral agrochemicals sold as racemic formulations raises concern for the negative impacts that inactive enantiomers can have on aquatic life and human health. The present work just focuses on the determination of ten chiral pesticides in river water samples by applying a ferrofluid-based microextraction followed by their stereoselective liquid chromatography analysis. To develop the ferrofluid, magnetite nanoparticles were prepared and coated with oleic acid and then dispersed in a hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvent (NaDES), composed of L-menthol and thymol (1:1).

Recovery of cellulose acetate bioplastic from cigarette butts: realization of a sustainable sorbent for water remediation.

Cigarette butts, one of the most common forms of litter in the world, represent a source of chemical and plastic pollution releasing thousands of toxic compounds and microfibers of cellulose acetate (CA). Besides the correct waste management, the recovery of CA from cigarette filters is a way to cushion their negative effects on the environment. Thus far, recycling strategies have been limited to industrial applications, while not many solutions have designed for water remediation.

Nanocomposite microbeads made of recycled polylactic acid for the magnetic solid phase extraction of xenobiotics from human urine.

Nanocomposite microbeads (average diameter = 10-100 µm) were prepared by a microemulsion-solidification method and applied to the magnetic solid-phase extraction (m-SPE) of fourteen analytes, among pesticides, drugs, and hormones, from human urine samples. The microbeads, perfectly spherical in shape to maximize the surface contact with the analytes, were composed of magnetic nanoparticles dispersed in a polylactic acid (PLA) solid bulk, decorated with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (mPLA@MWCNTs). In particular, PLA was recovered from filters of smoked electronic cigarettes after an adequate cleaning protocol.

Low transition temperature mixture-based extraction of 14 pesticides from tomato samples and their high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis.

The extensive use of pesticides to control pest infestations has led to the development of analytical methods to determine pesticide residues in food matrices to prevent food exposure. However, most developed analytical methods do not consider impact on the environment in terms of the toxicity of the chemicals used and the amount of waste produced. An environmentally-friendly method, based on a miniaturized matrix solid-phase dispersion followed by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, for the analysis of fourteen pesticides in tomatoes, was exploited.

Recent developments in electromigration techniques related to pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis - A review.

The analysis of pharmaceutical compounds is an important research topic as the use of different drugs affects people's daily life for the treatment of diseases. In addition to the widespread use of the internet, counterfeit drugs have appeared in the market. The development of modern analytical techniques, reliable, precise, sensitive, and rapid methods, has provided powerful means of analysis used in various fields such as drug production, quality control, determination of impurities and/or metabolites, biochemistry, pharmacokinetics, etc.

An enantioselective high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method to study the fate of quizalofop-P-ethyl in soil and selected agricultural products.

In this study, the attention was focused on quizalofop-ethyl, a chiral herbicide whose formulation has recently been marketed as quizalofop-P-ethyl, i.e. the (+)-enantiomer exhibiting herbicidal activity.

Enantiomeric analysis of drugs in water samples by using liquid-liquid microextraction and nano-liquid chromatography.

The nano-LC technique is increasingly used for both fast studies on enantiomeric analysis and test beds of novel stationary phases due to the small volumes involved and the short conditioning and analysis times. In this study, the enantioseparation of 10 drugs from different families was carried out by nano-LC, utilizing silica with immobilized amylose tris(3-chloro-5-methylphenylcarbamate) column. The effect on chiral separation caused by the addition of different salts to the mobile phase was evaluated.

Room-temperature synthesis of 2D-Ti3C2Tx nano-sheets by organic base treatment.

The growing demand for improved electrochemical performance in energy storage systems has stimulated research into advanced two-dimensional (2D) materials for electrodes. In this work, we obtain a layered MXene compound by exfoliating a titanium aluminum carbide precursor using tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH) ions in a full room temperature process followed by manual shaking. The hexagonal crystal structure and composition of the layered materials are characterized using different techniques.

Direct Solar Oven with and without UV Filter vs. Traditional Oven: Effect on Polyphenolic Antioxidants, Vitamins and Carotenoids of Food.

The use of efficient solar ovens can be a way for progressing ecofriendly technologies in the field of food preparation. In most performing direct solar ovens, the sun rays reach the foods directly, therefore, it becomes essential to check whether, in these conditions, foods can retain theirnutraceutical properties (antioxidants, vitamins and carotenoids). In the present research work, to investigate this issue, several foods (vegetables, meats, and a fish sample) were analyzed before and after cooking (traditional oven, solar oven, and solar oven with a UV filter).

Carbon nanomaterial-based membranes in solid-phase extraction.

Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) have some excellent properties that make them ideal candidates as sorbents for solid-phase extraction (SPE). However, practical difficulties related to their handling (dispersion in the atmosphere, bundling phenomena, reduced adsorption capability, sorbent loss in cartridge/column format, etc.) have hindered their direct use for conventional SPE modes.

Evaluation of the carotenoid and fat-soluble vitamin profile of industrial hemp inflorescence by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and photodiode-array detection.

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a plant matrix whose use is recently spreading for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical purposes. Detailed characterization of hemp composition is needed for future research that further exploits the beneficial effects of hemp compounds on human health.

Extraction of Emerging Contaminants from Environmental Waters and Urine by Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction with Solidification of the Floating Organic Droplet Using Fenchol:Acetic Acid Deep Eutectic Mixtures.

In this work, several eutectic mixtures formed by fenchol and acetic acid at seven molar ratios (between 4:1 and 1:4) were characterized and studied for the first time for their possible application as extraction solvents in dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on the solidification of the floating organic droplet (DLLME-SFO). A group of 13 emerging contaminants (gemfibrozil, bisphenol F, bisphenol A, 17β-estradiol, testosterone, estrone, levonorgestrel, 4--octylphenol, butyl benzyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, 4-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol, and dihexyl phthalate) was selected and determined by liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and tandem mass spectrometry detection. Among the studied mixtures, only those of 2:1 and 1:1 provided the suitable features from an operational and repeatability point of view, suggesting that several eutectic mixtures of the same components may also provide similar results.

Biomonitoring of pesticides in urine by using isoamyl acetate as a sustainable extraction solvent.

The protection of the health and safety of workers in the agricultural sector requires the assessment of human exposure to pesticides through biomonitoring programs. In doing this, the health and safety of laboratory analysts should be also protected through the use of analytical procedures as safe as possible. According to Green Analytical Chemistry and Green Sample Preparation principles, the use of miniaturized extraction techniques such as dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) should be encouraged, with the aim of limiting the consumption of chemicals (solvents and reagents) and energy, as well as the production of wastes.

Fosfomycin Pharmacokinetic Profile in Plasma and Urine and Quantitative Estimation in Prostate and Seminal Vesicles after One and Two Consecutive Doses of Oral Fosfomycin Trometamol in Healthy Male Volunteers.

The present Phase I study investigated, for the first time, fosfomycin pharmacokinetics in humans after two 3 g doses of fosfomycin trometamol administered 27 h apart, according to the dose regimen recommended for the prophylactic indication for transrectal prostate biopsy in adult men. Plasma, urine and seminal plasma concentrations were measured after one and two consecutive doses in 24 healthy men, representative of the target population of the prophylactic indication. Prostate and seminal vesicle concentrations were estimated based on seminal plasma concentrations using a one-step regression method.

Enantioselective high-performance liquid chromatographic separations to study occurrence and fate of chiral pesticides in soil, water, and agricultural products.

As many as 40% of all plant protection products currently used contain chiral active ingredients. Enantiomers of the same pesticide have identical physicochemical properties in an isotropic medium, but they may display different activity and toxicity because of their interaction with enzymes or other naturally occurring asymmetric molecules. This difference may also lead to variations in biotic degradation rates, making one enantiomer more persistent than the other in natural and agricultural environments.

Photons for Photography: A First Diagnostic Approach to Polaroid Emulsion Transfer on Paper in Paolo Gioli's Artworks.

The aim of this research is to study and diagnose for the first time the Polaroid emulsion transfer in the contemporary artist Paolo Gioli's artworks to provide preliminary knowledge about the materials of his artworks and the appropriate protocols which can be applied for future studies. The spectral analysis performed followed a multi-technical approach first on the mock-up samples created following Gioli's technique and on one original artwork of Gioli, composed by: FORS (Fiber Optics Reflectance), Raman, and FTIR (Fourier-Transform InfraRed) spectroscopies. These techniques were chosen according to their completely non-invasiveness and no requirement for sample collection.

Removal of Copper Corrosion Products by Using Green Deep Eutectic Solvent and Bio-Derivative Cellulose Membrane.

A safe and environmentally friendly material for corrosion removal from metals is proposed in this article. Electrochemically corroded copper was selected as a target material, and a deep eutectic solvent (DES) composed of choline chloride and ascorbic acid, in a molar ratio of 2:1, was developed to this end. Aqueous solutions of the DES with a concentration above 70 wt% were found to be effective in the dissolution of patina and less aggressive towards other materials such as CaCO which is the main component of limestone.

Enantioseparation of selected chiral agrochemicals by using nano-liquid chromatography and capillary electrochromatography with amylose tris(3‑chloro-5-methylphenylcarbamate) covalently immobilized onto silica.

In this paper enantiomers of selected chiral agrochemicals representing various structural classes were separated by using nano-liquid chromatography (nano-LC) and capillary electrochromatography (CEC) employing a capillary column packed with silica particles containing immobilized amylose tris(3‑chloro-5-methylphenylcarbamate) (i-ADMPC) as a chiral selector (CS). Special attention was paid to peak dispersion in nano-LC and CEC instruments used in order to make comparison between these two techniques more reliable. Enantioseparations were studied utilizing methanol (MeOH) or acetonitrile-water (ACNHO), both containing 5 mM of ammonium acetate as the mobile phases (MPs).

Safety and serum distribution of anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody MAD0004J08 after intramuscular injection.

The emerging threat represented by SARS-CoV-2 variants, demands the development of therapies for better clinical management of COVID-19. MAD0004J08 is a potent Fc-engineered monoclonal antibody (mAb) able to neutralize in vitro all current SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoCs) including the omicron variant even if with significantly reduced potency. Here we evaluated data obtained from the first 30 days of a phase 1 clinical study (EudraCT N.